News

Lead Found in 1 Out of 5 Schools’ Drinking Water

New figures from the State Water Board show that nearly 1 out of every 5 public schools in California have detectable levels of lead in their drinking water.

School districts had until July 1 to conduct water testing under a 2017 law. The results can be viewed here. Private schools are not required to conduct the tests.

According to CBS Sacramento, at least eight schools in Placer County were forced to take action because of lead levels that exceeded the threshold of 15 parts per billion (ppb). Some schools’ levels were more than 10 times the legal limit.

“There were at least another eight schools in San Joaquin County, and another 14 in Sacramento County that reported lead levels at more than 4 times the limit,” CBS reports.

No data is available for at least 100 schools in the Sacramento area.

School safety advocates want to see more water filtration systems in place to ensure children are not being subjected to toxic lead exposure in school.